Dear Gary,

Your Comment(s): Please explain Mathew 5:17-19. This is another scripture that is in the New Testament that seems to support the giving of tithes as required by The Law. Jesus said "anyone who breaks even the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same..." It appears this could cause some confusion when the Bible also said we are no longer under Law. Is it something I am missing?

• Matthew 5:17-19 (NIV)… 17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Now, we read in Matthew 5, Jesus had just given what have become to be called "The Beatitudes". So, if we are to believe that Jesus was speaking of any commandments as He say then it were these prior commandments He spoke of previously to this saying in Matthew 5:17-19. For we see in Matthew 5:3-11, Jesus spoke of the true follower of the law of Christ as being blessed for being poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, peacemakers, and the persecuted. Never mentioning giving someone ten percent of your money. Yet, these gospel peddlers will read into these verses claiming Jesus meant if you don’t give them your money you are breaking some spiritual law. I have said it before, and I say it again tithing is not, repeat not a spiritual law for Christians. Nor is tithing a command to Christians, tithing was commanded for the children of Israel males ONLY. No other nation on this planet was commanded to tithe, and GOD ONLY gave the authority to collect tithes from their brothers to the descendants of Levi. Not some self-appointed, greedy Balaam ministers who may have went to some man-made school or seminary, and then laying claim to ten percent of your money.

After the Beatitudes Jesus called us the salt and light of the world, and that our good deeds to our fellow humankind would cause them to praise our GOD in heaven (Matthew 5:1-16). Then Jesus spoke the words of Matthew 5:17-19, saying He had not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them. The Law Jesus is speaking of is the Law He just spoke of, and the prophecies spoken of by the Prophets of old. Further proof Jesus did not mean the "Ten Commandments" or the law of tithing when He spoke here Matthew 5, Jesus tells His true followers in verse 20 that unless our righteousness exceeds "the Pharisees and the teachers of the law"; we will not enter the kingdom of heaven (GOD). Then Jesus goes on to say, we must not only not murder, if we think hatred in our heart for our fellow mankind we commit murder. And adultery is committed in our hearts before it’s committed physically. Jesus also spoke against divorce unless your spouse was unfaithful, and He spoke about us keeping our word and forgiving those who wrong us; to be perfect in all our ways as our Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:21-48). But Jesus never mentioned keeping the Law of Moses or the law of tithing given to the children of Israel. The words commandments and Law in Matthew 5:17-19 do not refer to the Old Covenant and its ordinances and rituals.

Gary you rightly say the Bible tells us we are no longer under the Law (the Old Covenant). For the Old is replaced with the New, and Christ Jesus fulfills the Old Covenant and the prophecies of the Prophets. I ask you Gary don’t you find it strange that out of all the Old Testament ordinances these self-appointed ministers of today claim tithing is still in force? Yet, these same gospel peddling, money hunger ministers refuse to keep the appointed holy days given to the children of Israel under the Old Covenant. Not that these days are required for salvation, but they are more spiritual beneficial than the pagan holidays called Xmas and Easter. Tithing was part of the Old Covenant given to the children of Israel only, and was part of the ordinances under the Law of Moses for the upkeep of the temple built to worship God.

When Jesus spoke the words "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets", every law and writings of the prophets He spoke of before and after this were summed up in His words in Matthew 7:12 (KJV). As it is written, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Now, this verse says doing to others as you would want them to do to you is the "law and the prophets". Again, Jesus says nothing about the Ten Commandments or tithing or any other Old Covenant ordinances or ritual. Do you see any self-appointed gospel peddlers claiming this? No you don’t, because it will not put money in their pockets but they will try to extort 10 percent of your money for their so-called "church expenses" and "their salaries".

So, the only confusion we have concerning the Scriptures is these self-appointed gospel peddlers who preach from their belly rather than the heart, if they have such a thing. For the Scripture is clear that the Old Covenant was with the children of Israel, and God intended to make a New Covenant with us the spiritual Israel. As it is written:

• Hebrews 8:7-13 (NIV)… 7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. 10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." 13 By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

I pray that God will continue to bless you and your household. Continue to study God’s word and pray always so you want fall into temptation. Amen. Praise God.

In Christ love,

Ron Davis, minister of Christ